It’s time we stopped policing girls’ skirt length in schools – and started educating boys.

Following the murder of Sarah Everard, the secondary schools in Brighton have taken action to talk with pupils about sexual violence towards girls and women.

It’s important that consent (and I don’t mean the age of consent) and sexual violence are discussed as a part of education, with both boys and girls.

But sexual harassment and violence don’t happen in a vacuum. When 97 per cent of young women have experienced sexual harassment and are having to modify their behaviour to avoid it, it’s clear that the problem is endemic

in our society.

Turns out this hadn’t gone unnoticed by the girls at Dorothy Stringer secondary. Girls, some as young as 12 years old, wanted to know: how can you justify policing the length of our skirts while teaching about sexism

in our society? Do you not see there’s a connection here? They are still waiting for an answer.

It’s not the first time Stringer’s skirts are up for debate. The school introduced a below knee length tartan skirt last year, which according to the school rules should not be shortened from the supplied length. To make

sure parents or pupils don’t shorten the skirt, and to make the length easier to police, it has got a yellow line which must be on show.

Girls who have shortened their skirts have been told they need to replace it with a new one. No other skirts are allowed, even though the Stringer skirt costs £30 – a fact many parents have quite rightly complained about.

The black uniform trousers on the other hand can be purchased from any store.

Teaching girls that their skirt length is a problem is passing on the age-old myth that girls are somehow responsible for harassment, violence and rape. That if they choose the wrong way home, drink too much, flirt with someone or dress in “indiscreet” ways, they are inviting men to take advantage of them. They’re asking for it.

It doesn’t send wrong signals to girls alone. It also teaches boys that they are not responsible for their actions. Boys are not unaware of these rules around girls’ uniforms. There really is only one reason to police girls’ skirt length – and even 12-year-olds understand what that is. It’s not “smartness”. It’s modesty. It is mind boggling that the school leaders do not see this.

Why in the aftermath of Sarah Everard’s murder, are we not focusing on educating boys and men? What we need is a strong public education campaign about consent and women’s right to their bodies. Consent and rape need to be talked about in schools, especially with boys, the most likely perpetrators. They need to understand that they have no privileges or rights over girls’ bodies, no matter how “much thigh is on show”. And we need to stop policing girls’ uniforms.

Girls rolling up their skirts is nothing new. What we should be asking is why is this a problem? You might say girls should just wear trousers to school. And they can choose to do that. But they shouldn’t be forced to, just because the assumption is that boys and men cannot be trusted to behave in an appropriate way around women’s bodies.

What I’m asking is for the head of Dorothy Stringer to explain to me, and to his pupils, why is it so important to him to make sure the Stringer girls’ skirts are a certain length? I think it’s time we get an answer for this question.

Lena Koskela

Address supplied